Heading in the wrong direction – that’s how experts describe the rate of kids without health insurance in the U.S.
A report from Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families found the national uninsured rate grew from 4.7 percent to 5 after nearly a year of declines. Oklahoma’s rate went from 7.3 percent to 8.1, fourth-highest in the U.S. CCF Executive Director Joan Alker said insurance is crucial for kids to get basic health care like checkups and immunizations.
"Insured children are also less likely to miss school, and they’re more likely to have better economic and educational outcomes when they grow up," Alker said.
There is a way to correct course.
"A state that has not expanded Medicaid could expand Medicaid. That’s probably the one surefire way to move this number in the right direction," Alker said.
Mmore kids are covered through their parents’ employer-sponsored plans, but that’s outweighed by the drop in kids on public insurance plans.
Alker is keeping an eye on states trying to implement Medicaid work requirements, which may boost children’s uninsured rates even more.
"Some of these proposals – as in Oklahoma, Alabama, Mississippi – target only parents if they’re non-expansion states. And so, we believe that would have a direct impact on more kids losing coverage," Alker said.
Alker said many families may have kids eligible for Medicaid but not know it, or they may be immigrants afraid of using public assistance.
